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Attack comes as US finalises fresh sanctions and steps back from mediating peace talks
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Russia launched a mass drone attack on Ukraine‘s second largest city of Kharkiv late yesterday, injuring at least 46 people, according to Ukrainian officials.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the assault, writing on Telegram: “There were no military targets, nor could there be any. Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes, when they are putting their children to bed.”
US officials finalised new economic sanctions against Russia to intensify pressure on Moscow to embrace president Donald Trump’s efforts to end its war, sources say.
The targets include state-owned energy giant Gazprom and major organisations in the natural resources and banking sectors, an administration official said. Mr Trump would need to approve the package.
The US has also pulled out of mediating in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, with State Department official Tammy Bruce saying envoys would no longer “fly around the world at the drop of a hat” to mediate.
Russia has started building its first road bridge to North Korea across the Tumen River, signalling deepening ties with its reclusive ally.
The bridge will be the first to allow cars and other motor vehicles to cross between the two countries and represents a “significant milestone” in Russia–North Korea relations, Russian prime minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Wednesday during a groundbreaking ceremony held via video conference.
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Vitali Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxer who is now mayor of Kyiv, ventured last month into hazardous political territory: he delicately suggested in an interview that Ukraine might need to cede land to end its battle against Russia.
After a flood of angry online comments, he walked back his comments, saying on Facebook that “territorial concessions contradict our national interests and we must fight against their implementation until the last”.
US President Donald Trump and his negotiators believe the only route to ending the Russian war in Ukraine is for Kyiv to acknowledge in some form that it is not getting back the Ukrainian land Moscow’s troops have taken since invading.
The United States will no longer act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, leaving it to the two nations to work out a path toward ending the war, a State Department official has said.
Tammy Bruce stated that US envoys would no longer travel across the globe “at the drop of a hat” to facilitate peace talks. The responsibility for proposing concrete solutions now lies with Russia and Ukraine, she said, though the US remains committed to supporting the process.
“We will not be the mediators,” Ms Bruce said, adding that the US is shifting its approach to how it engages with the conflict.
On Thursday, secretary of state Marco Rubio said that either there would need to be a breakthrough towards peace “very soon” or US president Donald Trump would have to decide how much time the US would dedicate to the conflict.
US vice president JD Vance said the war is “not going to end any time soon”.
“It’s going to be up to them (Ukraine and Russia) to come to an agreement and stop this brutal, brutal conflict. It’s not going anywhere. It’s not going to end anytime soon,” Mr Vance said in an interview with Fox News.
“Of course they (the Ukrainians) are angry that they were invaded, but are we going to continue to lose thousands and thousands of soldiers over a few miles of territory this or that way? I hope both of them come to their senses.”
Mr Vance’s comments came shortly after Ukraine signed a mineral and profit-sharing deal with the US on Wednesday.
Russia launched a mass drone attack late yesterday in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, hitting a major high-rise apartment building which led to fires and 46 injured, officials said.
Ihor Terekhov, Kharkiv mayor, said the strikes hit 12 locations across four central districts of the city. He added that an 11-year-old was among the injured and eight were under treatment in hospital.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, writing on Telegram: “There were no military targets, nor could there be any. Russia strikes dwellings when Ukrainians are in their homes, when they are putting their children to bed.”
“As the world delays decisions, almost every night in Ukraine turns into a horror that results in the loss of lives. Ukraine needs stronger air defences. Stronger and real decisions from our partners: the United States, Europe, all our partners who seek peace.”
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Ukraine-Russia war latest: 46 injured after Moscow launches drone attack in Kharkiv – The Independent
